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Other Men's Women

Other Men's Women
Other Men's Women 1931 Poster.jpg
Directed by William A. Wellman
Written by William K. Wells (dialogue)
Story by Maude Fulton (& adaptation)
Starring Grant Withers
Regis Toomey
Mary Astor
Music by Erno Rapee
Cinematography Barney McGill
Edited by Edward M. McDermott
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
January 17, 1931 US
Running time
65 or 70-71 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Other Men's Women is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Maude Fulton. The film stars Regis Toomey, Grant Withers, and Mary Astor and features Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

It was first previewed, released and reviewed in 1930 under the title The Steel Highway. By the time of the film's release in New York City the title had been changed to Other Men's Women.

In 1929, Bill White (Grant Withers), is a railroad engineer and boozing womanizer who is evicted from his boarding house for excessive drinking and late rental payments. Needing a new place to live, he accepts the invitation from his longtime friend and fellow engineer, Jack Kulper (Regis Toomey), to move into his home, where he resides happily with his wife Lily (Mary Astor). This new living arrangement brings changes to relationships as the months pass. Bill and Lily's own friendship, which at first is playful and innocent, evolves into a passionate love between them. Hesitant to hurt Jack, they try to keep their feelings secret, at least for a while; but Jack begins to notice differences in his wife's demeanor and becomes suspicious when he finds that Bill has suddenly moved out of their house. Jack initially thinks Lily and his friend have had a quarrel, but he later confronts Bill inside the cab of the coal-fired steam locomotive that the two men operate together at the nearby rail yard. There Bill finally admits to Jack that Lily and he have fallen in love. In the fistfight that ensues, Jack falls during the struggle, strikes his head, and is permanently blinded by the injury.

During his convalescence at home, Lily tries to rededicate herself to her marriage; however, Jack resents his dependency on his wife. Increasingly frustrated by his situation, he insists that Lily leave town for a few weeks to visit her parents, explaining that he needs emotional space and that he also wants her away from the dangers of expected floods due to rainstorms in the area. Shortly after Lily's departure, Jack learns from rail workers that Bill plans to drive a train of flatcars stacked with bags of cement onto a vital river bridge, the desperate hope being that the combined weight of the train and its load will bolster the bridge and prevent it from being swept away by the rising floodwaters. Stumbling that night through a heavy downpour and literally feeling his way to the rail line, sightless Jack manages to locate Bill and knock him unconscious before he begins what everyone deems a suicidal mission. Jack then takes charge of the engine's controls, but before moving onto the wavering bridge, he pushes Bill off the locomotive to safety. Once on the bridge, the entire train plummets into the river as the structure collapses, and Jack drowns in the raging river.


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